In my early thirties, have a BA in Information Systems. Go back to school for Psych, was looking into this field in Japan as well. Best info I found, better late then never. You're better off going to a university that has an established exchange student program with a university in Japan. In my case being a New Yorker, Cornell University has an exchange/international academic relationship with Rikkyo University in Tokyo. I have been to Japan on 4 visits totaling to over 60 days.

One more valuable resource I found is Cornell offers Japanese Studies via FALCON's Japanese program.

well, here's my 2 cents on this old post. there are a lot of rude people on this board.I can'y argue with the facts, but there is certainly an attitude problem.

I've lived in japan for about 6 years, working in scientific research (not teaching english!)I have to agree that trying to become a psychologist or psychiatrist in japan is impractical, and a recipe for disappointment.This is not because you won't try hard, but because of the way things are here. Obviously people living here have a better grasp on what is possible, and what is not. Which is one of the reasons you posted here i'm sure.Like another poster said, clinical research as a post-doc is not unheard of.If you're interested in brain science, there is the RIKEN brain science institute.

I've found that there are a few main categories of english-speakers living in japan (sometimes in combination)1) those that don't learn japanese2) those that do3) those that are into the language, but really the culture4) those that love everything in japan

etc. basically, a variety of people. But, there is a strong tendency for those that are into the language and culture to look down on and judge those who are not, or who are only staying a few years.

I myself try not to judge. I know japanese, but I can always learn more. The culture is interesting, but I can't accept everything as 'different but not worse', or 'different but not better' than back in the states. I have friends who speak 0 japanese, and friends that are fluent, and married with children. Anyway, for those of you giving this guy a hard time, there are ways to point out the reality of a situation without being an ass. This board is here to help people who don't know stuff, not to tell them they're dumb for not knowing. peace.

Mike is basically a very cool guy who just tells it like it is for several reasons. For one thing, it cuts down on the signal-to-noise ratio to get it out there and be straight. For another, it doesn't waste time.

You know what I have always found to be rude and crass behavior among gaijins? The need to include the length of one's stay in Japan when attempting to make a point, that's what.

The length of time a person has been in Japan is a reliable indicator of one thing, and one thing only: the length of time a person has been in Japan. There is absolutely NOTHING else that reliably can be inferred from it. There are astute and informed people who have spent very little time in Japan and there are clueless knuckleheads who have been in Japan for decades.

Given that, there are only two reasons to ever include that useless bit of information:

1. An attempt to prop up an opinion or assertion2. An attempt to cow those who have not been in Japan as long

The first case is intellectually lame and the second case is nothing more than plain old-fashioned bullying. Both are deserving of contempt.

As regards people "into the language and culture" looking down on those who aren't, it has been my experience that it is seldom if ever a case of anyone looking down on others, but rather a perception born of the inferiority complex of those who claim they're being looked down upon. All that is required is for someone to have a greater knowledge of something and those who have a lesser knowledge (combined with having neglected acquiring knowledge when they knew they should have) rather than take responsibility for their own shortcomings immediately start yapping about how others are "showing off", "judging" them, or "acting better" than them. I've seen it over and over and over again. The "I didn't lift myself up, so I'm not happy unless I pull you down" mentality. The "Don't get above your raising" mindset.

Combine it with a foreign setting and it gets compounded by the foreigners who, consciously or unconsciously, hold themselves apart from (and above) the Japanese. Those who resent it when somebody "goes native". Yes, there are foreigners in Japan who will proudly tell you how many years they've lived here and how many Japanese relatives they have, yet largely speak of the place with total disdain, make little or no effort to learn the language, are oddly proud of being illiterate, and who work and socialize almost exclusively with other foreigners and perform jobs that rely entirely on some aspect of their foreign origin. They think themselves deserving of special treatment just for being foreigners, love to blame everything on discrimination/racism on the part of the Japanese, will lecture you on how the Japanese won't allow foreigners to assimilate here (while ignoring their lack of effort to do so)....and nothing in the world gets their hackles up quite like somebody who has learned the language, become literate, and assimilated. Such a person can't make the most innocent plain-Jane simple statement of fact without them screaming bloody murder about "being looked down on", "judged", "acting like you're better than everybody else", etc etc etc.

I don't understand how any of what Mr. Two Cents had to say was any less rude than anything anybody else had to say to Brian. Ours was at least informed, giving valuable information on problems regarding the (im)practicality of learning Japanese to that high a level in such a short time while also knocking out a Master's Degree and the fact that local accreditation in Japan was going to be an impossibility as he wouldn't be allowed to sit the exams, no matter how good his Japanese got. Mr. Two Cents did little more than blather a bunch of pap based on nothing more than his own conjecture, was unable to refute any of what was said in the other posts, yet somehow supposes his post to be superior. His is somehow less rude because he said others were rude? Is that how it works? "You're rude! I said it first!" Childish and smug is an unusual combination, but he certainly pulled it off.

P.S.

Anyone who claims they don't judge is either a liar, without principles, or without the stones to stand behind them.

datdo wrote:I haven't been on the forums for around 3 years or so and was wondering if Mike was still being Mike. I'm glad to see that he is. He will forever be my favorite.

I can't tell you how many people I knew while I was there whom you've just described to a T. When I was editing Tokyo Journal, I got letters (and calls!) by the buttload from people who wanted to have me put out articles about how evil or reactionary or whatever (pick an adjective, pick a week) Japan was. Every country has jerks, every country has cool people. I was refused a cool apartment in Mitaka once because I was a foreigner, and while it miffed me, it didn't color my perception of Japan. That landlord was a jerk. The next owner loved me and became like my very own Japanese mother while I lived there.

As to "years in country" -- yeah. I had a guy at TJ who had been there like five or six years to my then-two, and he couldn't even order demae without shouting in English into the phone. I think, ultimately, often "time in country" becomes a variation of "drop trou and break out the rulers." As with so many things, people don't realize that what matters is QUALITY, not QUANTITY.

That said, the nostalgia-bug in me is wishing I had some more quantity to work with these days. I do miss Japan.